Music Part 1 The Open University UK

Overview

Case studies drawn from the research of every member of the OU Music staff throughout the module ensure a wide cultural and geographical scope. Independent study is a key part of the module, allowing you to pursue study in your own area of interest. The Music Part 1 MA programme from The Open University UK is accessible and relevant to those who have a vocational or leisure interest in music.

What you will study

The first block introduces a range of musicological traditions, opening with an overview of the ways in which status or value has traditionally been assigned to particular groups of musical works, practices, practitioners and methods. You'll explore themes including historiography and canon, gender and feminist musicology, and genre and tradition. The research skills developed in this block will be focused on planning research projects and formulating research questions, as well as the skill of preparing a succinct abstract.

Block 2: Investigating practice 

This block makes explicit the relationships between music practice and musicology, exploring current examples of research into various musical practices, practice-led, and practice-based research. Themes include performance practice, impact and engagement, mobile phone music production, and ethnographic study. Research skills development is focused on identifying and evaluating sources, from scores, manuscripts and biographies to recordings, videos, web discussion forums and more. In particular, the wide range of sources relevant to musicological practice is discussed, including the practical and ethical issues around interviews and participatory research.

Block 3: Technologies, tools and techniques

This block reflects on how different tools, technologies and techniques are used both in the practice of music and in contemporary musicological practice, as well as the many new avenues that have opened up with technology-based areas of research. In addition, case studies on musical instruments (organology) and the use of software tools exemplify the many ways in which musicology deals directly with the matters of musical production. Research skills involving identifying and deploying a range of different methods will be developed in this block.

The assessment for this block will be a conference-style presentation, produced simply using slides and voiceover, accompanied by an abstract.

Block 4: Communities and interdisciplinaritiesThe final block builds on many of the research specialisms of the department that foreground how music works in interaction with groups of people. Examples include music education, music and wellbeing, politics, and social history. You’ll examine ways in which musicology has drawn strategies and research areas from other disciplines, as well as its contribution beyond disciplinary boundaries.

The research skills focus here will be on using and developing theoretical frameworks. The final assessment, your end-of-module assessment project, will allow you to develop these skills while focusing on a topic of your choice.